Israel and Jordan

Let's just jump right in, friends --

I almost OD'd on Jesus spots last week. It was serious enough that I've had to spend the past week in the desert to make up for it. Do you know there's a spot where Mary (mother of Jesus) once lactacted on a rock while breastfeeding the Child, and now that rock apparently grants miracles? People actually go to see this. Jesus's supposed birthplace, cruxifiction spot, stations of the cross, olive grove where he was betrayed, the rock from which the entire earth was founded -- sure -- but breastmilk? Come on, people. Not to mention the fields where the shepards who came to see the Baby used to graze their crops. It's a field. There were some sheep there once, I presume.

Back to the present -- I'm in Jordan!! Specifically, I'm in Wadi Rum village, the Bedouin settlement (oxymoron?) of 1400 people at the edge of the Wadi Rum Protected Area (http://www.wadirum.jo/), a huge deser (pic below)t. I'm making a website for a Bedouin tour operator named Ahmed (check it out at http://www.bedouinadventures.com/), in exchange for tours of the desert, camel rides, and a chance to experience traditional Bedouin culture for a while (as well as learn some Arabic). We'll come back to this in a bit. Rewind....

World Traveler Scott (that's me) set off on stage 2 of her world travels on February 2nd, as many of you know. Armed with her entire life on her back once again (and a jar of peanut butter, carefully squirreled away from her Christmas stash), and missing her most faithful world traveling companion, she flew to Tel Aviv. There she met Ron, whom she and Em had met on their expensive-but-worthwile tour of Tibet. Together with Ron's lovely girlfriend Yael (who loves coffee as much as Jess does, believe it or not), they traversed the length and breadth of Israel (pic of coast below) --approximately 6 hours to get from N to S, 2 hours E to W--avoiding the Golan Heights due to snow, and instead escaping to the southernmost resort town of Eilat, for 2.5 days of R&R. They had the most relaxing time, including the special highlight of soaking in pools of water of varying salinity for 2 hours, listening to relaxing music and being moved around by water attendants -- mmmmmm... Returning home, they stopped at Timne National Park, an incredible landscape carved by wind and sand over millenia. The also stopped briefly at the Dead Sea, so that Jess could strip down to her skivvies and join all the other Russian-over-60's in their swimming caps who were floating like bloated fish (don't worry, I checked with a Russian, they won't find this similie offensive) in the bouyant water -- had she thought ahead, she would have brought that highly coveted copy of the NYTimes with her for photo opportunities... but alas, the soak was over quickly, and the three travelers returned to Ron's home, all loosey-goosey from their vacation. (Musical suggestion from Israel: Asaf Avidan)

(Warning: Changing POV. On purpose.) Following my visit with Ron (a great way to ease back into World Traveling), I went to Jerusalem -- what a city! 44,000 Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Armenians (who were the first "official"/oldest-practicing Christians, or something like that) living in the 1sq km of the Old City -- one of the most (religious) holy places on earth. Being at the intersection of the 3 major monotheistic world religions, and in a country with such an intense and complicated religious-political history, life in Jerusalem is surprisingly peaceful. With tons to see and so much to try to understand, I went on a free walking tour of the city, where I met 3 girls who happened to be staying at the same hostel as me, and with whom I spent the next 2 days traveling. The Western (wailing) Wall, the hill of Olives, Temple Mount, the Church of the Holy Sepulchur, some of the aforementioned Jesus sites, and a trip down to the German quarter of the new city to meet a CSer for extremely delicious hummus were some of the highlights of my time in Jerusalem. Pics below: Both overlooking Jerusalem.

Esther, one of the girls I met (and the person who took most of the Israel pics I'm using in this particular post), and I also went to Bethlehem -- which, in the West Bank, meant that we got to cross checkpoints and pass to the other side of the massive security wall that Israel has built around parts of the Palestinian territories -- only 6 miles from the center of Jerusalem. The Palestinian side of the wall has been taken over by beautiful, thought-provoking graffiti from all over the world (see a few pics below) -- and Bethlehem itself was one of the most "authentic" feeling places I had yet visited in Israel/Palestine. The tourism income for the city has drastically plummeted (except around Christmas) in the past year, and many shops were closed -- we were the only independant travelers that I saw walking around (there were a few big busses, ferrying passengers from Jerusalem to the Church of the Nativity and back). We had some of the best falafel of my life on the streets of the open market, before returning to the city that evening. The next day, I set off to cross the Israel-Jordan border in the south (back to Eilat). Note: Check out my most recent blog post for an interesting rant of political relevance.

I have been deseperately trying to avoid evidence of having visited Israel in my passport, due to it's limitations on future visits to countries that don't recognize the "Promised Land". So, I got no stamps in my passport when I entered or exited the country, as well as no stamps when I crossed the Israel/Jordanian border... my only stamp from this part of the world will be my entry into Egypt at the ferry port of Nuweiba, which can only be traced back to Aqaba... and with my luck, my story of having never stepped foot in Israel will hold at various future embassies...like the Sudan... not that I think I will succeed at getting my Sudanese visa anyway (apparently, The Sudanese Gov't doesn't appreciate the US's financial sanctions/attempt to stop the genocide, go figure), but I didn't want to count it out just yet.

For being a first-time solo traveler, I haven't actually been alone yet. Crossing the boder into Jordan, I met two Argentinian boys and a family of 5 from Hong Kong who were all heading to Petra -- we negotiated cheap taxis, drove 2 hours, and arrived at the World Wonder that is the rose-colored rock city featured in the first Indiana Jones movie. We spent the evening eating the dinner buffet provided by the hotel (delicious), chatting, and of course watching the Indiana Jones film to prep us for the next morning's visit to Petra. I met two British boys (Matt and Simon) and a couple from Belgium, and the 5 of us decided to get up early the next morning in order to take advantage of the morning light and fewer tourists at the site.

So, at 630am we were staring slack-jawed at the Siq, the 2KM long passageway formed by towering rock walls that leads to the first (and most famous) rock facade in Petra, the Treasury. It was magnificant -- we were the only people there, walking in silent awe as the sun rose slowly over the edge of the rocks. The benefit of our early-morning arrival was made very clear to us when we left at 330 that afternoon, and had to walk through a large number of highly obnoxious tourists, often riding in the overpriced metal carraiges drawn by poorly-treated horses that threatened to mow you down at each corner of the often-narrow Siq. We turned off the main path just after the Treasury, and began to climb stairs and follow rocky paths to less-explored areas of Petra, making a multi-hour loop back to the main path (again, we had the "back roads" to ourselves, except for the company of a very cute little dog that I befriended -- whom we named Indiana, for lack of creativity -- who joined us for the first 4 hours of our day.) The dwellings carved into the stone evoked visions of the ancient civilizations who created this beautiful site, and we felt lucky to have the chance to experience so much of it. We sat on an outcropping overlooking the main sites for a while that afternoon, before returning to our hostel after 9 hours of walking.

Which brings me just about up to the present... Matt, Simon and I left at 6am the next morning bound for Wadi Rum, the beautiful desert we had heard so much about. We arrived around 8am, got settled into our tents, and headed off to explore the desert on foot around 930am. At the end of the village, where the road meets the sand, we met Ahmed, the owner of Rum Stars/Bedouin Adventures. He invited us back to his home that evening for tea, to discuss the proposal of one or all of us helping him build a website (as mentioned above). We discussed this proposal throughout the day as we walked -- we covered about 9 miles in 7 hours in the desert, and realized how easy it would be to get lost out there without reasonable maps/guidance. We also realized that we were the only tourists actually walking -- everyone else opted for Jeep tours and camel treks -- and while they may have gotten to see more stuff in one day, we enjoyed the experience of getting from place to place, not just the places themselves. Semantics though it may be, we felt like real backpackers that day. And, as a real backpacker often does, I decided to stick around and take up this website gig, and spend more time getting to know this place and the people who call it home. (Pics at end of post are from Wadi Rum)

So here I am, and will be for a few more days (at least). Including for tomorrow, Feb 19th, my official-8th-month-i-versary of traveling (missing you, WT Kirschner -- this is our first monthiversary apart :( )! I head to Egypt next, to relax in Dahab/climb Mt Sinai before fighting with various embassies in Cairo to give me visas/buying a plane ticket across the Sudan if I fail. Oh, and seeing the Pyramids, Sphinx, Nile River, Valley of the Kings and Queens, and all of the other sites that mark Egypt as the cradle of advanced civilization. Wish me luck, as I traverse the east coast of the African continent -- and beyond! Love to all of you, this is World Traveler Jess, signing off. Ma'a Salama!